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Monday, March 31, 2008

1. OK, this is by no means the most exciting piece of news, but it's the most physically obvious to me: I mopped by kitchen and dining room floors! This doesn't happen often, so it is worthy of rejoicing.

2. Next, remember my great-nephew Justus who was born March 16? Just look at this beautiful boy! He has had surgery to remove several cysts, and, since this picture, he has had all his tubes removed. Looks like this precious boy is going home this week!

3. And speaking of babies, Justus is like so already the older cousin! My very first niece, Esther (Ellen's cousin), gave birth to Abigail today! How cool is that? This is Abigail with her Grandma, my sister-in-law Sharon. Is that not a beautiful baby?

My little sweet nieces both had babies this month. I consider that a great gift. They are my little peeps that I spent my own teenager-hood spoiling rotten, so I appreciate their producing offspring for whom I can buy clothes and quality books.

Blessings abound. A mopped floor, though shiny, is nothing. In my family, we've been graced with two new babies this month--the start of the next generation. My Mom and Dad have become great-grandparents. There is a connection I feel with these babies. I want to go to them and hold them, smell their sweet heads, and touch their Mamas' cheeks. I love them already.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Dana at Principled Discovery is hosting Home Education Week a (March 30-April 5), with different topics each day! Today’s topic is Looking Back.

Share your personal history…before you were a home educator. What was life like? Think about things you miss and things you and your family have gained.

I'd love to write more and be all philosophical, but I've got to get dressed for church, feed the kids, and that sort of thing, so...

I had 11 years between college and homeschooling. What did I do?

* I was censor taker in NY* I was a substitute teacher in NY and TN* I got married and moved back to TN* I was a waitress at Shoneys* I worked in a daycare* I was a telemarketer for the Shriners Circus! (Imagine me attempting an East TN accent: “Haa! Ahm callin’ from the Shriners here in upper east Tennessee. Do ya’ll wanna buy some circus tickets this year and help out the crippled children?”)* I taught a 4-5 preschool class* I did editorial work for The Business Journal of Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia* We moved to Ohio for Randy’s graduate school, and I moved on to a real job. I was an assistant editor/desktop publisher for The Planning Forum, the international association for strategic planning and management.* I had a baby.* I was a stay-at-home mom.* We moved to Iowa for Randy's doctoral program, and I was a SAHM and I did freelance editorial work.* I went to graduate school.* I had another baby.* I finished graduate school.* I had lots of poems published.* H., now Dr. H, got an amazing, perfect job and we moved back to Tennessee.* I was a stay-at-home mom.* I started homeschooling.* (I had another baby)

If you'd like to share a bit about your life before homeschooling, post it on your blog and leave the link to your post at Principled Discovery. Don't have a blog? Just comment here!

Friday, March 28, 2008

We had a nice, informational article in our local newspaper today. We had contacted the school section editor of the paper a couple of weeks ago asking him if he'd do a story before our upcoming Homeschooling 101 tomorrow. He was quite agreeable to it and we arranged to have him come to our enrichment class (co-op) program. (We did ask him NOT to put the name of the facility in the article, but it managed to show up in the photo caption. Ergh.) Interestingly, he'd just come from a 4-hour "educational summit" of sorts. He was intrigued by the differences between "us" talking about nurturing our children and understanding their individual learning styles and "them" referring to the children as "products" and the school as the "market." Anyway, THAT didn't make it into the article (surprise, surprise), but it is a nice, benevolent article that hopefully will get some people intrigued enough to come to our HS 101. There is also a nice link from there to a brief about a local credit union adding a $1000 scholarship for a local homeschooled graduating senior to its annual High School scholarships program. (If I didn't already love my credit union, I'd sure switch to this one!)

All in all, it was a positive experience. The reporter, a recent college graduate, was brand new on the job. Initially he seemed to have trouble forming questions, but about midway through the interview, I could see lights coming on for him: he was starting to get it. As I mentioned above, he'd spent the morning listening to public school educators, and he began making connections between the lifestyle of homeschooling and the business of public education. At one point Marj, who is quoted in the article, commented on the original German purpose of education--to make good citizens. He asked us, "But isn't your goal to make good citizens?" Marj and I kind of looked at him blankly, because it seems so obvious. We said something to the effect of "Our goal is to help our children be well-rounded individuals who can think for themselves and come to their own decisions and opinions, rather than regurgitating what they've been told." We said a bit more than that, but that conversation didn't make it in the paper, either.

One more thing: as I said, he seemed to be having trouble forming interview questions at the beginning. Of course, anyone who had just come from a 4-hour educational summit would have trouble forming coherent sentences, so I have to completely excuse him for this: right off the bat, he commented that my husband and I both have post-graduate degrees. I was trying to figure out where this was going when he said something to the effect of: "So you have a master's degree and were certified to teach public school, but you're not using it?" Yes, he actually said that. I laughed and said, "Not using it? I use it every day!" He sputtered then, but I told him I was glad he voiced that, because this is such a common misconception not only toward homeschoolers but toward stay-at-home moms in general. But that's another whole subject, and I'm pretty sure he'll not make that particular faux pas again. (And one more thing, as I am a grammar fanatic, I have to defend myself and say that I did NOT say “People wish there was alternatives..."!)

Here's the first part of the article but you can click on the link to read the whole thing:

*********Program to present basics of home schooling Saturday

By Matthew Stewartof The Daily Times Staff

Patricia Hoffman recently took her two children to Marble Springs, the home of Tennessee’s first governor: John Sevier. The three dressed up in period clothing and provided the “background color” for the day’s guided tours. The kids also made bead necklaces, listened to a lecture on how to cook over a wood fire and learned about weaving in a loom house.read the rest of it here.

Comments

Friday, March 28, 2008 - nice write up

Posted by Jennifer in OR (69.88.229.219)

Thanks for sharing that! It was pretty positive, even though the author certainly left out some important details. But really, most liberal papers would have at least mentioned "socialization" so be glad for that! :-) It sounds like a wonderful group.www.diaryof1.com

I totally knew that you did not say "there was alternatives." I about choked on my soup when I read it. I could just see you reading the paper and seeing the quote... the mental image was quite humorous.

We had a nice, informational article in our local newspaper today. We had contacted the school section editor of the paper a couple of weeks ago asking him if he'd do a story before our upcoming Homeschooling 101 tomorrow. He was quite agreeable to it and we arranged to have him come to our enrichment class (co-op) program. (We did ask him NOT to put the name of the facility in the article, but it managed to show up in the photo caption. Ergh.) Interestingly, he'd just come from a 4-hour "educational summit" of sorts. He was intrigued by the differences between "us" talking about nurturing our children and understanding their individual learning styles and "them" referring to the children as "products" and the school as the "market." Anyway, THAT didn't make it into the article (surprise, surprise), but it is a nice, benevolent article that hopefully will get some people intrigued enough to come to our HS 101. There is also a nice link from there to a brief about a local credit union adding a $1000 scholarship for a local homeschooled graduating senior to its annual High School scholarships program. (If I didn't already love my credit union, I'd sure switch to this one!)

All in all, it was a positive experience. The reporter, a recent college graduate, was brand new on the job. Initially he seemed to have trouble forming questions, but about midway through the interview, I could see lights coming on for him: he was starting to get it. As I mentioned above, he'd spent the morning listening to public school educators, and he began making connections between the lifestyle of homeschooling and the business of public education. At one point Marj, who is quoted in the article, commented on the original German purpose of education--to make good citizens. He asked us, "But isn't your goal to make good citizens?" Marj and I kind of looked at him blankly, because it seems so obvious. We said something to the effect of "Our goal is to help our children be well-rounded individuals who can think for themselves and come to their own decisions and opinions, rather than regurgitating what they've been told." We said a bit more than that, but that conversation didn't make it in the paper, either.

One more thing: as I said, he seemed to be having trouble forming interview questions at the beginning. Of course, anyone who had just come from a 4-hour educational summit would have trouble forming coherent sentences, so I have to completely excuse him for this: right off the bat, he commented that my husband and I both have post-graduate degrees. I was trying to figure out where this was going when he said something to the effect of: "So you have a master's degree and were certified to teach public school, but you're not using it?" Yes, he actually said that. I laughed and said, "Not using it? I use it every day!" He sputtered then, but I told him I was glad he voiced that, because this is such a common misconception not only toward homeschoolers but toward stay-at-home moms in general. But that's another whole subject, and I'm pretty sure he'll not make that particular faux pas again. (And one more thing, as I am a grammar fanatic, I have to defend myself and say that I did NOT say “People wish there was alternatives..."!)

Here's the first part of the article but you can click on the link to read the whole thing:

*********Program to present basics of home schooling Saturday

By Matthew Stewartof The Daily Times Staff

Patricia Hoffman recently took her two children to Marble Springs, the home of Tennessee’s first governor: John Sevier. The three dressed up in period clothing and provided the “background color” for the day’s guided tours. The kids also made bead necklaces, listened to a lecture on how to cook over a wood fire and learned about weaving in a loom house.read the rest of it here.

Comments

Friday, March 28, 2008 - nice write up

Posted by Jennifer in OR (69.88.229.219)

Thanks for sharing that! It was pretty positive, even though the author certainly left out some important details. But really, most liberal papers would have at least mentioned "socialization" so be glad for that! :-) It sounds like a wonderful group.www.diaryof1.com

I totally knew that you did not say "there was alternatives." I about choked on my soup when I read it. I could just see you reading the paper and seeing the quote... the mental image was quite humorous.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

This is an actual card given to us upon Jesse's birth that I glued to the back of his baby book. It was hard to imagine, 15 years ago, that someday that 8 lb. 11 oz. sweet baby would be asking how old he has to be to get his ear pierced again...

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

* It's been an amazing week here in SmallWorld. We had a relaxing, family-filled spring break. I didn't get quite everything in at my Project 52 blog, but I've captured some of the highlights.

• We had a great anniversary yesterday. Dr. H. and I are blessed to have built-in babysitters in my parents from November to April, so we enjoyed dinner out and then coffee and stale cake later at Starbucks. And of course we were home in time to watch American Idol, and I couldn't have summed up last night's episode any better than Cindy did here!

* Have I ever mentioned that I'm not the most sentimental person in the world? I mean, I can be. I've kept all my old journals and lots of letters, and we have two whole boxes of t-shirts. Of course I have some baby mementos, photo albums, and all that. But I'm not the girl who keeps rose petals from all the dozens of three bouquets that Dr. H. has brought to me in the course of our 22 years together. I don't even have my dried wedding bouquet, but that's really because the cats peed on it, not because I didn't save it. In fact, maybe I used to be a keepsake-sort of person, but then those darned cats peed all over boxes of mementos one year and we had to throw them all out. Anyway, for whatever reasons, whether deeply psychological or disappointingly shallow, I'm not good about keeping things like ribbons, ticket stubs, tiny hair bows (OK, really Laurel never wore a hair bow), baby socks, old pacifiers, and the like. But this, this has got to be the worst I've ever been:

These are the beautiful roses that Dr. H. brought to me for our anniversary. He is so good to me! I love them; I really do. I should wait for them all to die and then dry the petals to save in a pouch. Perhaps I could make my daughter a sachet for her own wedding, filled with rose petals from all the flowers her father has brought to me in our long and lovely marriage. Or her flower girl could toss them along the aisle--a symbolic scattering of our love as our daughter walks (over them?) into her future....

Um, well...back to my real life.

So, when he got home from work today, Dr. H. pointed out that some of the flowers looked bedraggled already. I lovingly asked him if he picked them up at the Jiffy Mart (i.e., the corner gas station). Then I thought to myself, "Hmmm, rose petals. "

And I got out my scissors and snipped.

Because rose petals were exactly what I needed to make a bottle of dye. Yeah, see, we're working on the Textile Arts badge in American Heritage Girls, and the girls need to try out different kinds of natural dyes, and what could be more natural than rose petals, besides daffodils, acorns, and coffee?

Comments

I have known you more than a year now so I can say this ... that has got to be the ugliest display of roses I have ever seen.and it is NOT his fault.sarah ... do you need a lesson on "vasing"? I can totally see why you cut them all up.simply hysterical

Friday, March 21, 2008

Lapbooking is something I've always been intrigued by and always wanted to do, but it hasn't been until this past year that we've actually tackled a lapbook. Actually, we began the botany lapbook last year but put it aside until recently. The coral reef book we did as part of our ocean unit study a couple of months ago.

There has been a lot of interest expressed in our support group recently about lapbooks, so we decided our next roundtable should focus on lapbooks. Several moms brought samples of lapbooks they'd made, including the totally awesome ones by this fellow blogger, whose lapbooks were a huge hit. Although I am not by any means an expert, I did compile the following list of lapbooking resources to hand out at our meeting. My goal: to add in at least a few lapbooks each year!

************** Lapbooking Resources

Squidoo:This fantastic site is a great place to start when you want to create lapbooks. This includes basic how-to lessons on everything from planning to folding to making books. Includes lots of free downloads, photos, videos, and so much more. Lots of links to other sites are listed, including links to pictures of real homeschooling families’ lapbooks. While you’re at Squidoo, don’t miss the link to specific themes at http://www.squidoo.com/lapbookthemes

Lapbook Lessons:This is a Christian-Run site for freelLapbooks and lapbook video lessons! You'll find quick and easy tips for making lapbooks. You can watch videos and learn how to make your own templates and books, and surf lapbooking blogs for more tips, tricks and ideas. Print their free lapbooks or make your own.

CurrClick.com (formerly the Homeschool E-Store) has a free download every week, and often this will be a lapbook from the Hands of a Child.

Free Lapbooks from Homeschool ShareIncludes dozens of literature units, various themes (polar animals, tigers, trains, wild dogs, and many more), books based on the Five in a Row curriculum, and links to many other free downloads.

Free Downloadable Mini Books: Includes all letter of the alphabet, some bible stories, holiday stories, and more.

View Lapbooks: Here’s a great place on Flickr to view lapbooks, just to get ideas:

To purchase:• Dinah Zike’s Big Book of Books and Other Activities. Available at Rainbow Resource (www.rainbowresource.com) for $19.95.• Evan Moor History Pockets and Literature Pockets are great reproducible books for lapbooking. You can make the pocket-books as explained in the guide, or you can make them into lapbooks. You can view the titles here.• Hands of a Child: Known as “the premier lapbook provider.” Their kits are downloadable e-books complete with everything you need for the finished project except the paper and folder. You can download their catalog for free at the website.• Knowledge Box Central: Has lapbook kits to purchase in a variety of subjects, from history to Bible to science and many more!* A Journey for Learning: Has lapbook kits to purchase, including Apologia, Geography Matters, and even Veggie Tales!

Comments

What a great lapbook! I've got a multiplication one in the works right now :) That's to bad that it's lost its fun this year, but I'm the same with having the cores for my younger two, but I'm looking forward to picking out stuff for K *grin* I'm not sure if I'll stay with sonlight for a full core for the coming year or not since I have added in some different things with this year that I think we're enjoying more. One perk is that our dollar is doing so good now that it won't be as expensive to by from them as it has been in the past! Yay :)Have a wonderful Easter weekend,Rosina

I love the idea of lapbooking - but haven't figured out how to make it all work. Maybe I should see about finding one to go with the states. ANYWAY -- there's one resource I know of...http://www.liveandlearnpress.com/ - and they have a yahoo group to share ideas and pictures.

I agree with you about the Big Book of Books. It was a purchase last year as part of our curriculum..and it was very worth it! Thank you for sharing your treasure trove of information. I'll be saving it for later inspiration.

This Friday's meme at The Heart of the Matter asks: what do you wish you'd known your first year of homeschooling?

I haven't read any of the other blog participants' answers yet, but I can guess many of them have the same theme: I wish I'd been more relaxed. That first year was hard in so many ways, as I know it is for many people. We'd just moved to a new house in a new city (translation: I had no friends). I had a new baby mid-year and a 3-year-old plus my second-grader. My life was wonderful; I was thrilled with my little family and thrilled to have them all at home, but I was cranky in that "I'm so tired and I have no friends" kind of way. I should have been more relaxed and just enjoyed them more.

And academically, well, I was very happy with 90% of my curriculum (Sonlight), but I distinctly remember feeling as if I had to do every single thing (even though Sonlight clearly says, "This is just a suggestion! You don't have to do everything in this guide!"). Jesse hated dictation and narration. And math--phew. I'd make the poor boy do every single problem and time him on his Saxon drills, as suggested. I hadn't yet learned that he wouldn't miss out if I didn't do every single thing.

Fortunately, I learned quickly. By year two I found my pace and factored in "flexibility" as our family motto.Boy, my younger two kids are lucky. I am a squishy relaxed mama now. I can't even fathom giving Duncan, my first-grader, a timed worksheet. My 5th grader likes being timed for math drills, but a 10-year-old who enjoys being timed is a far cry from a 7-year-old who gets a tummy-ache from being timed.

Relax. As the Chinese proverb says: "Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are."

I definitely think I should have been more relaxed and just enjoyed my dc being little! People ask me know if I am going to "do real school" with my soon to be 4 yo next year. You know, I'm just going to let her be a little kid as long as she can. She's already learning so much.